Page 43 of Texas Made
“Let the future take care of itself.” He pulled her head down and kissed her. “It will, you know.”
“I know. But sometimes it takes care of itself in ways we don’t expect. Or want.”
“And sometimes everything works out great. Think about that and get some sleep.”
Chapter Seventeen
The storm rolledin overnight. Rain coming down in sheets, lightning electrifying the sky, a good old Texas gully washer. That didn’t keep Marshall and Jaclyn awake. They were awake anyway, making love for most of the night. The storm contributed to the feeling that they were alone in their own little world. They took full advantage of that.
Finally exhausted, they both dozed off. Marshall’s cell phone rang. He felt like he’d only been asleep for minutes, which when he grabbed the phone, he realized was true. Since he had the phone silenced at night for all but people on his favorites list, that wasn’t a good sign. Especially not at three thirty a.m.
He’d grabbed it and muted it automatically, trying not to wake Jaclyn, but she sat up anyway. Ella’s name came up on caller ID, he noticed with even more trepidation. In an emergency he’d have thought Damaris or one of his brothers would have called. Ella was the ranch manager and soon to be sister-in-law, so it wasn’t totally unreasonable that she be the one to call him but it might be indicative of a more serious problem.
“What’s wrong? What happened?”
“There’s been a fire.”
“A fire?” He heard Jaclyn suck in a breath. “At the ranch?”Of course it’s at the ranch, moron.“Never mind. Was anyone hurt? Where is it? Is it still burning? How bad was it?”
“None of our people are hurt.”
“Thank God for that.”
“Lightning struck the barn. The old one, not the new construction. The fire department is here and have it under control and are waiting to make sure it’s completely out.”
“Good. If the fire department is there it must have been burning for a while.” It would take time for the volunteer fire department to make it out to the ranch. He rubbed a hand over his eyes. Then it occurred to him she’d specifically said nopeoplewere hurt. “The horses? The dogs? The barn cats? Are they all right?”
She didn’t answer immediately so he continued firing questions at her. “Did the sprinkler system work?” They’d retrofitted the barn with sprinklers and other fire prevention equipment. It had been expensive as hell but well worth it. He’d known of too many barns that had burned to the ground—often with animals or people in them—because they had no fire prevention.
Ella hesitated before answering. “The sprinklers came on and helped keep the fire from getting worse until the fire department could get here. But the lightning really did a number on the front half of the building.”
“Who’s hurt?” he demanded. “Horses, dogs, cats or all of them?” By now he’d jumped out of bed and was scrambling to find his clothes and put them on. Jaclyn hadn’t asked but clearly knew from his side of the conversation what was going on because she’d begun getting dressed and tossing things in her bag.
“The dogs and cats are fine as far as we can tell. And most of the horses are all right. But…but Cappuchino is hurt.”
Cappuchino? His foundation stud? The backbone of their business. Not to mention, a horse he was very attached to. “How bad?”
“We don’t know yet. Damaris is with him. She was the only one he’d let near him but she had trouble getting him out of his box. We think that’s when he injured himself.”
Cappuchino really didn’t like anyone but Marshall messing with him. He tolerated Damaris but he adored Marshall. And in a fire his stallion would be even less inclined to behave. “Did someone call the vet?”
“Yes. He’s on his way.”
“Good. Are you sure the other horses are all right?”
“Yes, we got them all out safely.”
“Okay. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
“I’m sorry, Marshall. We hoped we wouldn’t need to call you but—”
“Don’t apologize. I needed to know. Thanks.”
He ended the call and stuck the phone in his pocket. He stood there a moment simply looking at Jaclyn. He didn’t know what to say. She came to him and put her arms around his waist, hugging him. “I’m ready to go when you are.”
“Thanks. Cappuchino’s hurt.”
“Oh, no! I wondered who it was. How badly is he hurt?”
